diff --git a/src/zm_image.cpp b/src/zm_image.cpp
index 9e8866d1f..1835d59b4 100644
--- a/src/zm_image.cpp
+++ b/src/zm_image.cpp
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ void Image::ReadJpeg( const char *filename )
 	if ((infile = fopen(filename, "rb" )) == NULL)
 	{
 		Error(( "Can't open %s: %s", filename, strerror(errno)));
-		exit(1);
+		exit( -1 );
 	}
 	jpeg_stdio_src(&cinfo, infile);
 
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ void Image::WriteJpeg( const char *filename ) const
 	if ((outfile = fopen(filename, "wb" )) == NULL)
 	{
 		Error(( "Can't open %s: %s", filename, strerror(errno)));
-		exit(1);
+		exit( -1 );
 	}
 	jpeg_stdio_dest(&cinfo, outfile);